Labview program for keithley 6430 with serial port RS232

[Coben]

Hello everyone!

I just got a problem when I was trying to make a programm for 6430 with serial port communication.

The examples which Keithley gave us seem only working with GPIB.

I just want to measure the current with source zero volt.

It seems pretty simple, but I always get error with the initialize subvi.

Anyone has a good idea?

[Dennis_Knutson]

It looks like Keithley has a couple of drivers. Could you post just the initialize function and the provide the error code that you are getting? Some drivers only require a moderate amount of change in order to work with a serial instrument. Others may require serious effort. Basically, if a driver was written with VISA functions and it is a native LabVIEW driver (not an IVI driver), then the changes are simple. By  looking at the VI and the error, someone can determine what you will need to do.

[Coben]

Here is the driver I use.

[Dennis_Knutson]

What you have is an IVI driver. An IVI driver is written with LabWindows/CVI and used to create the dll you see being called. Unless you have LabWindows, you cannot modify the driver. Since this driver is provided by Keithley, you might ask them why it does not work with a serial connection and whether they will modify it. With serial instruments, often the only thing needed is add a section configuring the serial port and making sure a termination character is appended to each command string.

Your other options would be to 1). Change to a GPIB connection 2). Write your own driver 3). Use the Instrument I/O Assistant. 4). Use VISA Writes and VISA Reads without creating a formal driver.